Kevin Spacey gives theater to host Uganda gay play

A gay play about Uganda is being put together at the Old Vic theater in London this November, thanks to Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey.

American Beauty star Spacey, who is the artistic director at the Old Vic, has donated the theater free of charge for the one-night-only staged reading of Just Me, You and The Silence.

‘This is an important piece that deserves to be heard and we are pleased to be providing an opportunity for audiences to connect with its message,’ he states.

It is a piece by Ugandan playwright Judy Adong and is described as a heart-rending portrayal of the brutal government-backed repression of the gay community in her home country.

The play is set in Kampala and it tells of the life and struggle of a man called Jacob Obina, an ambitious politician and family man. The story shows the institutional persecution that gays and lesbians suffer at the hands of Ugandan society and its government.

The real life anti-homosexual proposals, dubbed the ‘kill the gays’ laws, pending approval in Uganda, mandate life in prison and sometimes even death for certain homosexual acts.

The staged reading ahs been organized by international LGBT rights organization the Kaleidoscope Trust. Ticket money will be donated to charities and campaigns working to end the persecution of LGBT communities. They are partnering with All Out, Human Dignity Trust, Stonewall and the National Anti-Bullying Alliance.

Funds from the event will be directed at cultural projects and campaigns aiming for legal and social change for persecuted LGBT communities worldwide.

Just Me, You and The Silence also wants to highlight that Uganda is not unique in persecuting gay people.

There are around 80 countries where being gay is outlawed. In a few of these, the penalty is death.